


four times seungmin told felix to get off his bed, and one time he didn’t

by honjatmal



Category: Stray Kids (Band)
Genre: Canon Compliant, Fluff, Inspired by Real Events, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-11-20
Updated: 2018-11-20
Packaged: 2019-08-26 09:55:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,969
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16679407
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/honjatmal/pseuds/honjatmal
Summary: “But you were on his bed with dirty clothes.” Jisung paused to roll his eyes. “That’s like #1 on the How to Piss Seungmin Off Rulebook,” he pointed out, huffing loudly. “And yet, he got mad only at me.”





	four times seungmin told felix to get off his bed, and one time he didn’t

_one_.

 

His excitement over the other members moving in wasn’t because Felix was tired of Chan, Jisung and Jeongin already. Felix only saw it as a chance to get to know the other members better. He hadn’t known any of them for that long, after all, and only recently had they really formed as a nine-member group. Aside from Minho, everyone had already known each other before he joined the company. Sometimes, he felt a little left out when all nine of them were together. Seven of the members already had a good amount of shared experiences and had built up a fair degree of rapport between them in the past couple of years or so. He, on the other hand, had only been there for the past few months.

 

This didn’t mean Felix felt hopeless about the matter of fitting in with the rest of the group, though. He never felt uncomfortable around them, just a little lost at times. From what he had seen, everyone was generally nice and friendly, and they all made an effort to get through the language barrier. There were just a few things that kept getting in the way: actual practicing, his slippery grasp of the language, and the already existing relationships between the others that Felix found a little difficult to break through. None of those were the others’ fault, or seemed to be a deliberate effort to leave him out, at least. He thought he just needed more time with the others to remedy the situation. And although they practiced together a lot, sometimes starting early in the morning _or_ up to early in the morning, nothing was going to beat living together to get to that goal.

 

On the day Woojin, Minho, Changbin, Hyunjin and Seungmin were moving in, the show’s staff set up a little game so they could organize themselves into rooms. Felix felt so excited while the five members went off one by one to pick a room that he buried his head into a pillow lying around in the living room. There wasn’t anyone he wanted to be roommates with in particular. He wanted to get closer with everyone, after all.

 

After all the five members had picked their rooms, Felix, with a spring in his step and an excited grin on his face, skipped off to his room. He felt his heart sink, though, upon realizing that it remained empty. For a good second, he scanned his room with his eyes, wondering if his roommate was hiding. From the next room, he could hear Jisung bellow ‘Welcome!’, followed by a whole lot of yelling. The members were all a shade or two mischievous, after all. A small prank wouldn’t be past any single one of them.

 

That was when Felix decided to look behind the door. Much to his surprise, there was Seungmin, grinning at him. Felix was so happy he had a roommate after all that he couldn’t help but yell out and wrap his arms around the other boy.

 

“You scared me!” Felix cried out as he pulled away.

 

“I thought you were never gonna find me,” Seungmin replied, leaning against the bunk bed that took up most of the space in the room.

 

Felix was pleased. Seungmin was one of the members he wasn’t _that_ close with, and rooming together would be the perfect opportunity for them to get to know each other better. He thought they’d get along well. Seungmin so far, had been nothing but nice and friendly towards him. They were the same age as well, and Felix thought that was a relief.

 

Felix then also remembered that Seungmin went to school everyday. That made Felix’s heart sink a little; maybe they weren’t going to spend that much time together, after all. “Ah, Seungminnie, you go to school, right?”

 

Seungmin nodded, still grinning. “Yes, why?”

 

“Ah, I was wondering if you think it’d be better if you took the bottom bunk. I’m using it right now, but I can move up,” Felix offered, returning the large grin on his now-roommate’s face.

 

Seungmin raised an eyebrow. “Are you sure? The bottom bunk is more comfortable, and you were here first.” The grin on Seungmin’s face widened and his eyes crinkled into half-moons. “Besides, you’re older than me by a week!”

 

Felix laughed, remembering that they were only born a week apart. “No, it’s fine. You’ll probably be getting up before I do so it might be more comfortable for both of us if you took the bottom bunk.” Truthfully, Felix wasn’t a sensitive sleeper, he imagined he wouldn’t wake up whenever Seungmin would climb down from the bottom bunk. The other boy both studied _and_ trained, however, so Felix thought Seungmin was doing twice as much as he was and deserved the greater comfort between them.

 

The edges of Seungmin’s lips briefly turned downwards as he seemed to give Felix’s words some thought. After what seemed like eternity to Felix, Seungmin’s shoulders then rose into a shrug. “You’re right. All right then, bottom bunk it is for me! Thank you!”

 

\--

 

Felix was right, it turned out he wasn’t going to see much of Seungmin after all, or at least, not more than how much he’d see of the other members. Throughout the next few weeks, his roommate left for school before Felix woke up, and came back just right before night rehearsals were to begin. After the rehearsals, both of them would be too tired for anything.

 

That didn’t mean they didn’t get to spend some free time together. On weekends, when Seungmin claimed he couldn’t focus on his homework, he and Felix would play a few games on the computer, go out to the convenience store together or just have a nice chat. Felix still struggled with his Korean, and Seungmin turned out to be pretty fluent in English, so he could clearly explain to Felix what words meant. In return, Felix helped Seungmin with learning some of the choreography the other boy didn’t have much time to catch up with because of school. An added bonus was that the other boy kept his area of the room clean, which prompted Felix to work hard at doing the same.

 

All in all, Felix thought he had quite possibly gotten the best match out of all the other boys. Or so he thought for the first few weeks.

 

After one particularly grueling practice session for an upcoming mission, Felix dragged himself back to the dorms for a quick nap and a shower before the night sessions would begin. The dorm wasn’t too far from the company’s training center, but that day, Felix felt like he had walked a hundred kilometers. By the time he got to his room, he couldn’t bring himself to change his clothes and climb up to his bunk.

 

 _I’m sure Seungminnie won’t mind_ , he thought as he rolled into the bottom bunk, with Seungmin’s neatly folded blanket serving as a pillow for his back. He let out a loud, contented sigh as he settled in. It seemed Seungmin added another layer of foam on top of the mattress. He couldn’t remember the bottom bunk being that comfortable. The sheets smelled fresh, too, and he remembered Seungmin always changed his sheets on schedule. Soon enough, Felix felt his tired body relax, and he slowly closed his eyes. Surely, Seungmin wouldn’t mind him napping for a bit.

 

The next thing Felix knew, the door opened, and in came Seungmin.

 

“Lix, hey are you here?” Seungmin greeted gently at first. As soon as Felix heard the door close behind Seungmin, though, he felt the atmosphere change.

“Seungminnie?” Felix asked, raising his head to look at his roommate. To his surprise, Seungmin had a frown on his face, not the cheerful smile Felix thought he had on by default.

 

“Can you... get off the bed please?” the other boy asked, though carefully, with an edge to his voice that Felix hadn’t heard before.

 

Felix could only stare at Seungmin for a while in confusion. The other boy returned the stare with a frown, but it was him who caved in, with the look on his face softening moments later. This prompted Felix to roll off the bed as quickly as possible. He had no idea as to what was wrong, but he wasn’t in the place to argue with Seungmin on this. The bottom bunk was Seungmin’s, after all, even if it was Felix who had given it to him. He was just grateful Seungmin didn’t seem like he was about to get more upset than he already was.

 

“Sorry,” Felix mumbled as he moved away from the bed and watched Seungmin immediately dust off his sheets using his blanket. Felix wondered if it was because Seungmin wanted to nap himself, but he thought if that was the case, Seungmin could have said it differently. Fortunately, he didn’t need to ask Seungmin why.

 

“I just… at home we don’t get on our beds with dirty clothes on,” Seungmin explained, without looking at Felix. It was the first time Felix heard anyone speak in a tone that was both apologetic and annoyed. “Otherwise it would have been all right, really.”

 

“Oh, right. I didn’t think of that,” Felix apologized again. He immediately felt bad that he didn’t realize right away how lying down on a bed wearing dirty clothes could be a big deal for some people. Of course, anyone could be dirty if they came back from outdoors. Felix felt even worse when he remembered he had been sweaty from practice as well.

 

“It’s fine, it’s my first time telling you about this, after all. Just… don’t do it again, please,” Seungmin replied, as he gathered up the used sheets in his arms. After a moment of silence, he spoke up, sounding a bit more like he usually did. “The sheets were due to be changed already anyway.”

 

Felix opened his mouth to protest that he was pretty sure he remembered Seungmin just changed his sheets the other night, but he decided against it. “Any way I help you with that?” was what Felix asked instead.

 

“No, I’m all good,” Seungmin shook his head and walked past Felix to get to the door.

 

Felix wasn’t sure how to feel, but he decided all in all it was a good thing anyhow. It wasn’t like Seungmin got completely angry, and the confrontation could have played out much worse than it had.  He felt a little bad this had to happen but at the same time, it was better he learned about this quirk of his roommate’s sooner than later. Next time, Felix would know better not to do it again

 

 _two_.

 

Perhaps, it was for the best that he was eliminated. Felix honestly didn’t feel ready to debut: his Korean pronunciation still had swathes of his native Australian accent at best, and his rapping skills were far from his other members’. His only pride was his dancing, but he was pretty sure Hyunjin could make up for whatever loss his elimination would incur. He was relieved it wasn’t the both of them who were taken off, at least. Maybe PD-nim was right. If he had stayed in the team, he would bring them all down.

 

The night before had been terrible. He had spent up until the wee hours of the morning with Jisung, crying by one of the company building’s empty staircases. Jisung had kept apologizing for how he couldn’t help Felix improve enough to stay in the team. Felix thought this was unwarranted. At the end of the day, his improvement was up to him and him alone, and he was the one who should be apologizing for not managing to up his skills in time for the mission. He promised Jisung he wouldn’t give up, and that he would definitely keep in touch with all of them.

 

By the time they got back to the dorms, everyone was asleep, or at the very least, they were all quiet. Felix made a mental note to wake up early enough so he could thank the members one by one for having helped him out. When he checked the time, he realized it was better for him to just stay up. He knew Hyunjin would be up in a couple of hours, so he decided to sit by himself on the sofa in the living room to be sure he wouldn’t miss out on him.

 

The next thing Felix knew, Hyunjin was in his school uniform, nudging his shoulder gently to wake him up. “Lix? You okay? Why aren’t you in your room?”

 

Felix blinked in surprise and looked out the window and then to the clock hanging on the wall. It was still dark, but he knew Hyunjin left for school this early on the regular. “Hyunjinnie…”

 

“Hey, sorry about last night--” Hyunjin apologized right away, scratching the back of his head and looking down on the floor. Hyunjin was the other one who was supposed to be eliminated, but it was Felix who went instead.

 

“No, don’t be sorry! I should be the one apologizing!” Felix straightened up in the sofa. “I couldn’t be good enough for the mission. You guys gave me all the help you can give.” Felix put on a smile despite feeling a lump form in his throat. Hyunjin seemed to be feeling bad enough already, and he shouldn’t cry in front of him again.

 

“Actually, I stayed here so I can thank you before you leave for school... ” He forced himself to brighten up his smile. “Thank you for everything, Hyunjinnie.” He had more he wanted to say, but he couldn’t put the right words together in Korean.

 

“Lix…” Hyunjin had a small frown on his face. He looked like he was about to say something, but the sound of a door opening and closing from somewhere else inside the apartment prompted Hyunjin too look at the clock on the wall.

 

“Hey, thank you, too. I’ll talk to you later! Don’t leave too soon, okay?” Hyunjin told him, before giving Felix a pat on the shoulder.

 

Felix nodded cheerfully to that. Hyunjin looked him over worriedly for another second then returned that nod. “Later!” Hyunjin waved at him with a small smile as he turned around for the door.

 

With Hyunjin gone, the apartment felt empty. Felix decided it was time he started packing up so he wouldn’t fall asleep again and make sure to catch the others before he would need to leave the dorm. After stretching a bit in the sofa, he headed for his room, remembering just right before he turned the door knob that Seungmin could still be asleep in there.

 

To his surprise, though, the room was empty, with Seungmin’s bed neatly made up already. He frowned a little, thinking there was still a couple of hours more to go until Seungmin would usually go to school. Felix would have to find another time later in the afternoon to talk to Seungmin. Sighing, he went on to the clothes rack to start the arduous task of packing his clothes. At the very least, he was alone and he didn’t need to hold back his tears any further. As soon as he took the first item of clothing he owned off the rack, tears started to form in his eyes.

 

At one point, it got too difficult to continue for Felix. Perhaps, it was the exhaustion, or the fact that he couldn’t stop sobbing. He thought he should take his time, and sat on the bottom bunk bed without thinking. For a few minutes, he just stared at all the clothes he had laid on the floor that he needed to pack into his tiny suitcase.  

 

The door opened, seemingly all of a sudden to Felix. He had no idea how long he’d taken a break from packing, and could only be surprised to see Seungmin standing by the door in his school uniform.

 

“I thought you’d gone...” Felix wasn’t sure what else to say, he had hoped no one would catch him crying at this point.

 

Seungmin only shook his head, his eyes glued on the pile of clothes on the floor. “No, I couldn’t sleep so I just got up. I was wondering where you were, too,” he spoke softly, much to Felix’s surprise. Felix also noticed his roommate’s eyes looked a bit swollen. He didn’t think it would be a reach to say that Seungmin had been crying because of last night, and he immediately felt sorry again. He opened his mouth to apologize for the nth time that morning, but Seungmin suddenly spoke up.

 

“Come over here, I’ll help you pack up,” Seungmin said quietly and sat on the floor right beside where Felix’s pile of clothes was.

 

“A-aren’t you gonna run late for school?” Felix asked, trying to hold down a sob forcing its way out of his throat. He did as he was told, though, and got off the bed to  sit on the floor right across Seungmin.

 

“It’s early,” Seungmin replied without looking up from the shirt he had picked up and started folding. Felix wasn’t sure, but he thought Seungmin’s voice quivered slightly.

 

Felix picked up a shirt as well and gave it a look. He remembered it was the shirt he had been wearing when Seungmin and the others first moved into the dorm. He couldn’t help but smile a little before speaking up. “Thank you, Seungminnie.”

 

“Don’t mention it,” Seungmin looked up briefly to give Felix a brief, curt smile before turning his gaze back to the shirt he had been folding.

 

“I mean, thank you for all the help, so far. With the mini vocabulary lessons and all…” Felix tried his best to put on a smile.

Seungmin looked up and blinked at him, then a small smile formed on his face. “Thank you for the help with the dances, too,” he replied quietly. “Not just our dances, but Twice-sunbaenim’s dances, too.”

 

Felix couldn’t help but smile more genuinely. Occasionally, during late nights in the practice room, they’d dance to Twice’s songs instead of the songs they should be rehearsing to let off steam. Felix didn’t expect Seungmin to thank him for that, though it then came to mind that they probably won’t be able to do it again, with Felix out of the team. “You helped me more, though… and I still didn’t make it…” Felix forced a smile, then sharply turned his gaze back to the shirt he had laid on his lap for folding.

 

“Don’t say that, you tried your best,” Seungmin replied as he set aside the shirt and picked a new one up. “It wasn’t your fault, you did well with your Korean for the short time you were given.”

 

“I could have done better, honestly.” Felix, too, set aside a shirt and picked a pair of pants up this time.

 

Seungmin put down the shirt he had been folding and sighed, while looking at Felix directly. “As someone who studied another language as well… I don’t think I would have learned as fast as you did,” he told Felix. He sounded tired, just as everyone else, but Felix felt there was something genuine in the way Seungmin said it. Felix couldn’t pinpoint why,  but perhaps, it was the gentle tone Seungmin spoke in, one Felix hadn’t heard him use in a while.

 

Because of that, Felix found it hard to contest what Seungmin just said. “I suppose you’re right. Thank you.” He took a deep breath, and started to feel the load he had had on his shoulders lighten considerably. “Good luck on debuting, I know you’ll do well.”

 

Seungmin looked up and gave Felix a wide, toothy smile, with his eyes crinkling up into half-moons. Felix remembered it was the same smile Seungmin had when Felix found him hiding behind the door.

 

“You, too, Lix. I know you’ll do well. Never give up!” He raised a fist in the air to cheer Felix on, before resuming folding up the pair of pants on his lap.

 

 _three_.

 

This was the third time Felix was moving dorms with the rest of the team within the same year. Felix found it a little sad. In the previous dorm, he had shared the room with Hyunjin, Jisung, Seungmin and Jeongin, and every night had been a riot. There was never a dull moment, and although there had been real fights occasionally, the five of them got along really well. The feeling of being left out that Felix used to have had  practically vanished with his roommates. He could hang out with any one of them and he’d have fun without worrying about how he should act. Each boy helped him with his Korean, too. Felix felt like he was twice as fluent as he had been before he roomed with them.

 

The management, however, decided to break them up, precisely because every night was a riot. Truthfully, five boys in one room was a guarantee for some sort of chaos. Anyhow, Felix wasn’t _too_ sad. He would be rooming with Woojin, Minho, and Jeongin from now on. It was a relief to know that Jeongin would still be there, and now he would have a chance to get closer to the two older boys.

 

While Felix was unpacking his things in the new room, though, he realized his favorite blanket was missing. It didn’t take him long to remember that Jisung had taken it without asking one night, as Jisung did with everyone else’s belongings. Seungmin gave Jisung hell for that, and this issue was occasionally cause for chaos in their room. As for Felix, he didn’t really mind as long as he would get his stuff back. He usually did, anyway, as long as he reminded Jisung gently.

 

Just in time, Felix saw Jisung pass by their room. He didn’t miss the chance to call the other boy’s attention.

“Jisungie!”

 

Jisung turned around and stopped in his tracks, and looked at Felix questioningly. “Yeah?”

 

“My blanket, the red one. Is it with you?”

 

Jisung frowned for an entire second, before his face lit up. Felix felt relieved that Jisung seemed to remember having it. “Yeah, I remember packing it into my suitcase actually. Come with me to my room, I’ve just about finished unpacking.” To this, Felix nodded cheerfully and followed Jisung to their room.

 

“Welcome, welcome to the new Millennium Room!” Jisung bellowed as he opened the door. As characteristic of Jisung, the floor was already strewn with clothes and sheets, with Jisung’s suitcase lying open in the middle of it all.

 

Felix blinked, unable to find something nice to say about the mess. He thought he should because it was their new room and Jisung had invited him in. “Don’t call it Millennium Room without me,” he laughed softly. “Uh, you’re finishing unpacking soon?”

 

“Yeah!” Jisung replied, looking proud of himself. “I’m gonna finish early and sleep! Aw, yeah!”

 

Felix could understand Jisung’s cheerfulness at the prospect of sleeping in, but not how he was close to finishing unpacking already. He only smiled awkwardly. “So, the blanket…”

 

“Yeah, I’ll find it in no time. Take a seat somewhere there,” Jisung said, with his eyes already on the items remaining in his luggage. Felix wondered where Jisung meant, there wasn’t much room on the floor. The only spaces that were left were a single bed on one side of the room and the bottom bunk on the other.

 

“Uh…”

 

“Yeah, just over there!” Jisung said without any indication as to where ‘over there’ exactly was.

 

Felix blinked and followed Jisung’s instructions, and sat on the bed nearest to the door. He wondered how much time Jisung needed to find the blanket if he needed to have Felix sit down for it. Meanwhile, Jisung performed his version of unpacking: to crouch over his open luggage and throw out item after item. Felix thought he’d only see such a scene in cartoons but there it was, happening right before him. He couldn’t help but laugh a little to himself.

 

“Any way I can help you, Jisungie?” Felix asked, leaning over a little to have a peek at what the other boy was doing.

 

Before Jisung could even answer, in came Seungmin with a pile of folded clothes in his arms. The first thing he must have seen was the clothes on the floor, and Jisung unpacking in the middle of it all.. Felix saw his expression turn cold in an instant.

 

“Han Jisung, how is the room this messy already when we’ve only been here for two hours?” Seungmin demanded angrily while gingerly stepping over a few items of clothing lying by the door.

 

“I’m unpacking, let me live, Seungmin!” Jisung replied without raising his head from his luggage.

 

“As long as you don’t turn the floor into your wardrobe closet, sure, I’ll let you live,” answered Seungmin with an edge to his tone seemingly sharp enough to cut through Jisung himself.

 

“Hi, Seungminnie,” was all Felix could say, smiling awkwardly while he hoped he wouldn’t get caught in between the chaos he knew was going to happen. Jisung and Seungmin bickered about the room’s cleanliness when the five of them were still roommates. Felix could tell things weren’t going to be any different with their new room arrangements.

 

Seungmin turned sharply towards Felix. “Hi, Felix. Can you not--” He suddenly paused and pursed his lips as he looked at Felix, then continued the rest of the sentence in a milder tone. “--sit on my bed, please?”

 

“Oh, is this your bed? Sorry!” Felix apologized right away and stood up, scampering towards where Jisung was crouched.

 

“Geez, it’s just a bed, Seungmin. Lighten up, will you?” Jisung groaned as he continued taking things out of his luggage and tossing them on the floor.

 

“It’s _my_ bed,” Seungmin grumbled as he went over his bed and dusted off the area where Felix had been sitting on. “I don’t mind people using it, but how hard is it to change into clean clothes before doing so?!”

 

Jisung looked over his shoulder to turn to Seungmin. “The question here is, how do you manage to make a big deal out of these things? You’re not gonna die from a few germs, they’ll be good for your immune system, actually.”

 

Felix had the mind to cup a hand over his mouth and muffle a small laugh. He had to admit he was siding more with Jisung on this, and Seungmin being this pissed off about his bed was always amusing, even endearing to Felix a lot of times. Unfortunately, though, Seungmin had sharply turned his gaze towards Felix again. He saw the other boy’s frown deepen. Felix slowly put his hand down and forced a smile.

 

Seungmin pursed his lips for a second, looking like he was about to say something. Felix knew what was coming and readied himself for Seungmin’s scolding about Personal Hygiene 101. He had never been on the receiving end of this lecture before, but he had seen it happen to the others. Jisung, Changbin, and Jeongin, in particular, were frequent attendees. Thanks to them doing it before Felix could, he learned how to avoid it entirely until now.

 

To Felix’s surprise, though, Seungmin turned towards Jisung again.

 

“The floor better be clear when I come back in half an hour, or else!” Seungmin threatened as he stepped away from his bed. “How can you even wear clothes that you’ve laid all over the floor anyway? The floor _is_ dirty!”

 

“Or else what?” Jisung taunted, snickering. “Gonna run to Woojin-hyung and whine about it?”

 

Seungmin didn’t say anything for a while, though the look on his face revealed Jisung was getting under his skin and he was very pissed. Felix could only wince, though from what he’d seen so far, Jisung and Seungmin never got into actual fistfights despite all the bickering.

 

“I repeat, Han Jisung, this all better be clean in half an hour!” was all Seungmin replied with before slamming the door behind him. Felix winced at the loud banging sound.

 

As soon as Seungmin was gone, Jisung let out a loud snort. “I swear, he gets mad with the smallest things,” Jisung complained as he continued to empty his luggage. “And at me, all the time. Only at me!” On the surface, it seemed like Jisung was kidding around, but Felix thought there was something more to Jisung’s tone. Jisung was known to be rather sensitive after all.

 

“Well, to be fair, this is a pretty huge mess you made,” Felix pointed out as carefully as possible.

 

“But you were on his bed with _dirty clothes_.” Jisung paused to roll his eyes. “That’s like #1 on the How to Piss Seungmin Off Rulebook,” he pointed out, huffing loudly. “And yet, he got mad only at me.”

 

Felix let out an awkward laugh. “You kept arguing with him.” He thought Jisung simply added wood to the fire that was Seungmin’s annoyance.

 

“Well, I just can’t let someone younger lord it over me.” Jisung let out a grunt as he pulled out a particularly thick and large sweater out of his luggage.

 

“By a week and a day,” Felix reminded him, laughing.

 

Jisung scoffed at Felix’s reply as he handed Felix the red blanket he had been in the room for in the first place. “Whatever. He hates me, he likes you. Next time I make a mess, I’ll tell him it’s yours. It’s for everyone’s sanity, take one for the team, man.” Jisung’s face lit up as he continued to speak. “And besides, that makes you still here with us in spirit!”

 

“Jisungie!” Felix protested, laughing as he took the blanket from Jisung. He was pretty sure the other boy wasn’t serious. “Just stop making a mess wherever you go!”

  
  


_four_.

 

Felix had already spent the past hour in his bed, reading the script for tomorrow’s music show broadcast. It was his first time hosting in Korean, at last partially, and it was a live show for that matter. Any mistake he’d dare to make would be irreversible. After one last run through the script, he decided no matter how much he practiced by himself, he wouldn’t be confident enough about his pronunciation, and that lack of confidence would show on screen. He needed someone to listen to him speak his lines. Unfortunately, all three of his roommates had seemingly gone somewhere else to spend the few hours of free time they had been given that night.

 

Truthfully, though, Felix knew that there was no one better to approach than Seungmin, who would be co-hosting with him tomorrow. They both had been so busy that they forgot to agree on when to rehearse together. Felix thought now would be the best time to do that. And besides, Seungmin was the one with a regular live hosting gig among the members. If anyone among the members would be qualified to give advice, it would be him.

 

He thought it was a good opportunity to spend some time with Seungmin again. They lived in the same apartment and shared most of the same schedules, but things had gotten so busy during the past few months that there hadn’t been time to simply hang out like when they did in their previous dorm. Out of all his former roommates, Felix got to hang out with Seungmin the least. Jisung didn’t have school so Felix still spent a lot of time with him. Hyunjin and Jeongin went to school as well, but they had a bit more time to spare than Seungmin who had his own individual schedule because of his hosting gig.

 

On his way to Seungmin’s room, he passed by the living room and found Hyunjin on the couch with Changbin. At the dining room were Jisung and Minho, sharing a meal. Felix was a little relieved he’d likely find Seungmin alone in his room, they could practice in peace if Seungmin was willing to.

 

As soon as Felix knocked on the door, he heard Seungmin’s exasperated voice yell out from inside. “What now?! I’m studying!” Right after that, the door opened to reveal  a frowning Seungmin on his desk with textbooks lying open in front of him.

 

“Seungminnie!” Felix greeted, smiling awkwardly. He regretted knocking on Seungmin’s door, and felt bad that he could be disturbing him. Now he knew why Jisung and Hyunjin were outside.

 

Seungmin’s features, however, softened all of a sudden, and his voice went down several notches to its normal volume. “Oh, Lix, it’s you. Anything I can help you with?”

 

“Actually, I came here to ask if you’d like to rehearse tonight. For tomorrow.” Felix raised the script they both had been given earlier to show Seungmin what he meant. “But you’re busy, aren’t you?”

 

“Oh, right!” Seungmin chuckled a little, looking embarrassed. “I’ve almost forgotten.” Felix saw him throw a glance towards his desk and the textbooks lying on it.

 

“If you’re busy, maybe we can find time tomorrow,” Felix said, smiling sheepishly. He figured he’d have to ask Changbin or Hyunjin to check his pronunciation instead. That wasn’t really a problem.

 

Seungmin only continued to purse his lips, the look on his face coming across as regretful. Felix placed his hand on the door knob and readied himself to leave. He understood that Seungmin had some studying to catch up with and this was the only time he’d have for that.

 

“Tomorrow morning, maybe?” Felix asked again, trying to get across the point that he didn’t mind not rehearsing tonight.

 

“Actually, tonight would be fine. I couldn’t concentrate anyway,” Seungmin suddenly spoke, shaking his head. As if to drive the point further, he slammed one of the textbooks on his desk closed.

 

Felix’s face lit up. He felt extra lucky Seungmin agreed to rehearse that night. He could go to sleep feeling a lot less nervous. “Are you sure, Seungminnie?”

 

Seungmin nodded his head and sighed as he cleared his desk of his school materials. The other boy then dug his hands into his backpack lying on the floor to retrieve his own copy of the script, then sat cross-legged in his swivel chair and turned away from the desk.  

 

Without thinking, Felix sat at the foot of Seungmin’s bed, right across where Seungmin was. He watched Seungmin skim through the script before he looked up to Felix. He stared at Felix for a good second, and Felix couldn’t understand why. He could only tilt his head and frown in return.

 

“Stand up--”

 

Felix’s eyes widened before Seungmin could even finish his sentence. He just realized where he was seated and immediately, he shot up from the bed. Although he knew Seungmin wouldn’t completely hate him for breaking the rule regarding beds yet again, Felix would hate to piss Seungmin off in the slightest. He felt like he was asking Seungmin a favor with the request to rehearse, after all.

 

“Sorry!” he apologized right away. When Felix turned to Seungmin, though, he found the other boy grinning.

 

“Hey, it’s fine, you’re not wearing dirty clothes!” Seungmin explained, laughing softly. “I just thought it’d be better for us to practice while standing up”

 

Felix couldn’t help but laugh, feeling a little embarrassed as he straightened up. “Right! I thought you were gonna be mad again.”

 

Seungmin waddled over, still laughing as he found a spot to stand in right beside Felix. “Hey, to be fair, I don’t get that mad about my bed nowadays. Everyone’s been lying down on my bed to piss me off, I’ve started to not care.”

 

Felix raised an eyebrow at the other boy. “Seriously?” He wondered if Seungmin would give him hell as he usually would if Felix made that mistake again.

 

“Only a bit. Don’t try it,” Seungmin grinned and briefly pat Felix on the small of his back.

  


_five_.

 

Their schedules grew more intense as the promotions wore on. Felix came to a point where he could hardly tell which day it was. They slept only a few hours each day, and it was always dark when they woke up and went to sleep. He had never felt so exhausted his entire life. He didn’t want to complain, though, because despite everything, he was having fun and was grateful for the opportunity to meet fans.

 

He also knew he wasn’t having the worst schedules out of the entire team, and that made him feel like he didn’t have the right to feel exhausted, not even to himself. Seungmin and Hyunjin were taking the college entrance exams amidst their heavy schedules. He had been in Korea long enough to know how much of a big deal it was. The fact that it would go for nine hours was enough to tell Felix that taking the exam was not going to be an easy feat, and it wasn’t something he’d choose to go through with himself.

 

To make matters worse, they had a broadcast pre-recording right before the exam. Felix could only imagine how exhausted the two would already be before the exam would even start. Meanwhile, the rest of the team got the nine hours off, since the company couldn’t schedule much of anything with two members unable to join. Woojin even joked that they need to thank the two for the time off they would be getting.

 

After the pre-recording, the entire team sent the two off with packed lunches and a lot of hugs that Felix hoped would bring them all the luck they could get. They both looked tired, just like the rest of them, but cheerful enough that Felix had to wonder how they could do it. Felix felt like he hadn’t done enough to support his two friends and teammates.

 

As soon as the two were gone, Felix came up to Jisung, who was just about to enter his room to sleep throughout the nine-hour break.

 

“Yes, Felix?” Jisung asked, his eyes only half-open, when Felix came up to him.

 

Felix smiled a little before he spoke. “Hey, Jisungie, I was thinking. Aside from the packed lunches, maybe we should get Hyunjin and Seungmin a small present? For finishing the exams?”

 

Jisung’s face remained blank at first, and Felix worried the idea he just presented wasn’t a good one. “Or maybe…”

 

“Yeah, let’s do that!” Jisung suddenly answered, grinning widely. “Should we get them a cake each?”

 

Felix’s face lit up at Jisung agreeing and coming up with a good present for the two. He nodded profusely, grinning. “Yeah, let’s!”

 

Jisung looked excited, his sleepiness from earlier seemingly vanished in an instant. “Okay, let’s get some sleep, then at maybe around 4pm we go out and buy them something?”

 

“Sounds like a plan!” Felix agreed. He was so thrilled that he and Jisung turned out to be in sync on this one that he gave the other boy a hug before heading to his room to sleep.

 

\--

 

The next thing Felix knew, their manager was waking him up from deep slumber. The clock on the wall told Felix it was already early in the evening, just around a few hours before their radio schedule was due to begin. He had enough time for a shower before they’d get dolled up for the cameras. For the first time in a long time, Felix felt like he didn’t need to be in so much of a hurry.

 

He only remembered that he and Jisung were supposed to get cake when he got onto the van that was going to bring them to the radio station, and found Seungmin still in his school uniform, dozing off in the backmost seat.

 

“The cake?” he whispered to Jisung frantically, worried he’d wake Seungmin up if he spoke any more loudly..

 

Jisung only tilted his head and frowned at Felix.

 

\--

 

It was only after they returned to the dorms that Felix managed to grab Jisung to run with him to the nearby Paris Baguette branch to pick up two boxes of cake. There hadn’t been a lot of varieties left to choose from, much to Felix’s dismay. Afterwards, they both rushed to the dorm so they could surprise Hyunjin and Seungmin with their gift before they would go to sleep. Luckily, Hyunjin was in the living room with Changbin, still awake.

 

“Go bring Seungminnie’s before he falls asleep,” Hyunjin told Felix after he had thanked the two of them for the present. “He said he wasn’t feeling that well.”

 

Felix gave Hyunjin a nod and made his way to Seungmin’s room, while Jisung stayed behind to make sure he could get a slice out of the cake.

 

Felix knocked three times but there was no answer. His heart sank, thinking he couldn’t give the cake before Seungmin would fall asleep. He decided to come in as quietly as possible to check if that was indeed the case.

 

“Who is it?” a tired, groggy version of Seungmin’s voice asked in the darkness as soon as Felix stepped in.

 

“Ah, you’re awake!” Felix felt a wave of relief wash over him. As soon as his eyes got used to the dark, he managed to make out Seungmin’s figure lying down on his bed.

 

Seungmin only hummed in response. Felix could understand the other boy was too tired to say anything else.

 

“Actually, I came here to give you a present from me and Jisungie. For finishing the exam,” Felix explained carefully. “You guys worked hard!”

 

“Oh?” Felix heard a ruffling sound, from what he guessed, Seungmin’s sheets. After a good second, the lights came on, and there was Seungmin sitting on his bed, still in the school uniform he had worn during the exam and their radio schedule. Felix felt a little sorry, and thought that Seungmin must have been so tired that even he couldn’t be bothered to change out of his clothes before going to bed. The other boy only had a blank look on his face.

 

Smiling, Felix handed the cake to Seungmin, who lifted the box top to see what was inside. The edges of the other boy’s lips curled up slightly before he set the box down.

 

“Thank you,” he mouthed quietly, the look on his face remaining expressionless. “I’ll have it tomorrow.”

 

Felix nodded. “I’ll put it in the fridge for now, then,” he said, taking the box of cake back. “How was the exam, by the way?”

 

Seungmin turned quiet, and his gaze went from Felix to the window. “It was terrible.”

 

“Oh no. I’m sure you did well.” Felix felt worried, it wasn’t the answer he had been expecting. He was pretty sure Seungmin would nail the exam or at least just find it all right, not outright terrible, given how the other boy was always studying during the little free time they had. Felix admired Seungmin for that. If it had been him, he wouldn’t have been able to resist idling around.

 

Seungmin shook his head. “I went on some portal sites and saw posts that discussed the questions and yeah...”

 

Felix tried to come up with something he hoped could help Seungmin feel better, that he was going to get a good score despite how he felt, but all words were lost when he saw the look on Seungmin’s face. The other boy looked genuinely sad and deflated, he was almost like another person entirely. Felix didn’t  notice him looking this down earlier, but Seungmin must have tried to hold it all in until their radio schedule ended.

 

“I’m sorry…” was all Felix could say. He wished he could say something better, though. He remembered the time Seungmin helped him feel better after he got eliminated. Now was the time for him to return the favor but he didn’t know how.

 

Seungmin’s mouth formed a curt smile. “Hey, don’t be. I’m the one who should be apologizing, I can’t be feeling this down after getting a present from you and Jisung.”

 

Despte what Seungmin said, Felix could still see that he wasn’t any less sad even with the cake. Immediately, Felix set the box aside and crawled onto the bed beside Seungmin, then wrapped his arms around the other boy’s frame.

 

“Hey it’s fine to feel down, don’t worry about it,” Felix told him gently. He felt Seungmin straighten up at at first, then let some of his weight rest upon Felix. “You can’t force yourself to feel better. You wanted to do well on the exam but ended up not being able to. You’ve got all the right to feel upset.”

 

“I suppose you’re right…” was all Seungmin said, then sighed. Felix gave him a pat on the back, and kept his arms around Seungmin for a while. The other boy didn’t seem to want to pull away anyhow. Felix thought it was nice to be able to comfort someone he admired and valued by just holding them close.  It wasn’t long, though, until Felix realized something.

 

“Seungminnie… I’m on your bed.” Felix couldn’t help but chuckle sheepishly. “In dirty clothes.”

 

Seungmin pulled away from the hug, then laughed, which made Felix feel relieved. “Well, I’m on it with my dirty clothes, too. It doesn’t matter.”

 

Felix laughed softly, then slowly unwrapped his arms from Seungmin. “I should be putting the cake into the fridge anyhow. And you should be getting some rest.” Felix gave Seungmin a wide smile before starting to crawl out of the bed. “We’ll need to be up in a few hours again.”

 

Seungmin only nodded and kept quiet as he watched Felix stand up and take the box of cake.

 

“Should I turn off the lights?” Felix asked, knowing how prickly Seungmin had gotten in the past about that business as well.

 

“Yes, please,” he answered and Felix immediately obliged without saying a word. As soon as the lights went out, though, Seungmin spoke again.

 

“Actually, Lix… could you stay here with me for a while longer?”

 

Felix turned around, surprised, though he could barely make Seungmin out in the darkness. “The ca--”

 

“The room’s cold enough. The cake won’t melt in here.” Felix heard the sheets ruffle again, and with his eyes adjusting, he could see that Seungmin had laid down.

 

“I suppose I should change into something cleaner first…?” Felix asked, chuckling, though he wouldn’t put it past Seungmin to answer him with a yes.

 

“Just... take off your jacket,” Seungmin answered, chuckling as well. “You haven’t had that washed in days, have you?”

 

Felix walked over to Seungmin’s desk and laid the box of cake on top of it, then took his jacket off and hung it on the back of his chair. “How did you know?!” Felix asked, genuinely surprised.

 

“I think that’s the only jacket I’ve seen you in for the entire week,” Seungmin replied, with a hint of disgust in his voice.

 

Felix couldn’t help but laugh. The Seungmin he knew was coming around, and he took it as a sign that Seungmin was feeling a bit better than he did a few minutes ago. It warmed Felix’s heart that he could help the other boy in his own way, even if it’s just by a bit.

 

He then slowly crawled into Seungmin’s bed, and in the dark, found the other boy’s frame and slowly wrapped his arms around it.

 

“Is this okay?” Felix asked, deliberately lowering his voice. Now that they were so close to each other, he felt it would be wrong to speak any more loudly than a whisper.

 

“Mhm, perfect, thanks,” Seungmin answered in an equally soft voice, as he slowly wrapped his arms around Felix as well.

 

_end._

  
  
  
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